Circular vs Linear Timelines
See Also: Continuity * See Also: Timeline For years it has been debated whether the [[Planet of the Apes - The Original Pentalogy|the original Planet of the Apes film pentalogy]] represents a single circular timeline or two linear timelines. It can be argued that by reversing through time, Zira, Cornelius, and Milo changed the course of the planet's history and that the events of and were therefore nullified - a Linear (altered) timeline rather than the looping, unchanging series of events that a Circular timeline represents. The evidence in support of this theory rests solely on Cornelius' sworn statement in in which he tells of the origins of his society and of an ape named Aldo who first defied his human masters after five centuries of slavery. The events of went on to partially contradict this origin story of the ape rebellion, instead showing Zira and Cornelius' son Caesar leading an accelerated ape revolution after a mere eight years of servitude instead of the 3 centuries Cornelius had described to Otto Hasslein. However, Cornelius also testified that it took 2 centuries for apes to go from pets to slaves after the dog and cat plague. How these events were accelerated to only a few years while Caesar was away in Armando's circus is never explained. When creating a final chapter in the Apes saga, , the issue was raised about whether the ending should slide towards the ape master/mute human society depicted in the first film, or should an alternative history provide a more optimistic future. Otto Hasslein had already mentioned the possibility of altering history in Escape.. when he proposed ending the genetic line of the time-travelling apes. His theories were echoed by Virgil during the course of Battle.. and seized upon by Caesar, who wanted to avoid the planet's destruction 2000 years in his future. Paul Dehn (writer of the screenplays for Beneath.. (with Mort Abrams), Escape.. and Conquest.. and of the final draft of the screenplay for Battle..) stated, "The whole thing has become a very logical development in the form of a circle. I have a complete chronology of the time circle mapped out, and when I start a new script, I check every supposition I make against this chart to see of it is correct to use it"The Planet of the Apes Chronicles by Paul A. Woods (Page 109). Despite Dehn's efforts there are numerous discrepancies between the films which lead many to believe that the timeline was altered. Writing the story outline for Battle.. (then named ''Epic of the Planet of the Apes''), John William Corrington & Joyce Hooper Corrington were more explicit in their view on the altered timeline than in anything that appeared on-screen: the prologue and epilogue of the movie are set in 2670 A.D.; the Lawgiver is now benevolent towards humans (as opposed to the anti-human fanatic suggested in Planet.. and Beneath..) - "this difference is due to alterations of that historical track which we have seen worked out in previous films...these changes in ape history are due primarily to the influence of Caesar on apes and humans". Similarly, in interviews conducted for the End of an Epic: The Final Battle documentary featurette (found on the 2008 Battle for the Planet of the Apes Blu-Ray edition), several commentators (including co-screenwriter Joyce Hooper Corrington) stated that the main thrust of the film's plot was that it was possible to alter the timeline and create a more hopeful future through Caesar's actions in Battle. Of course, the Corrington's had no involvement in writing either Escape.. or Conquest.., so theirs is a retroactive interpretation (or misinterpretation) of Paul Dehn's story structure. They went on, in the same outline, to underline the point thus: "The main premise of 'Epic' is that Caesar, discovering the tapes ...determines that the course of history must be changed such that when Taylor arrives two millenia later he will find peace and justice instead of the slavery and brutality of 'Planet' which led directly to the atomic destruction of the world by the doomsday bomb.... The perspective given us by the prologue-epilogue frame indicates that Caesar has some success since an integrated ape-human society is awaiting the coming of Taylor, but the question of the planet's ultimate destiny is left open." (It seems that the Corringtons were contradicting themselves here; if the timeline had already been altered due to the events of the previous films, why would Caesar's influence be required to alter it again? Their "main premise" of the story only makes sense either if the previous films set in motion a series of events that would ultimately lead to the events of Planet.. and Beneath.., or if Caesar, on discovering the tapes, misinterpreted their contents and decided he must take action to alter a course of history that had already been negated, without that action being actually neccessary. However, if the latter is true the entire film, Battle, is dramatically pointless.) Regardless of the Corrington's interpretation or intent in writing the screenplay for Battle, they were ultimately replaced by Paul Dehn who wrote the final draft of the film's screenplay. The same outline also featured the ancestors of the mutants from Beneath.. with the very bomb that would destroy the Earth, and ended with a human child and an ape child having a fight. The finished film removed the scenes with the bomb and reduced the fight to a chimp child cheekily pulling the hair of a human girl, making the planet's destruction look even less likely. However, the final shot of the statue of Caesar shedding a tear was deliberately vague - the first Corrington outline seemed to suggest it was because of the two children fighting, and Paul Dehn, writer of the final draft of Battle's screenplay and of the previous three movies stated that the tear on the statue of Caesar at the end of the film was to tell the audience that Caesar's efforts would ultimately fail''Planet of the Apes Revisited'' by Joe Russo and Larry Landsman (Page 211) (Dehn had previously written intending to construct a circular timeline despite some discrepancies with Cornelius testimony in Escape.., saying, "I fitted it together so that it fitted in with the beginning of 'Apes 1', so that the wheel had come full circle and one could stop there quite happily, I think."[http://pota.goatley.com/magazines/cinefantastique-summer-1972.pdf Cinefantastique 'Planet of the Apes' Issue (1972)] at Hunter's Planet of the Apes Archive). However, Caesar's tear at the end of Battle... has also been interpreted by some fans as a tear of joy at the new human/ape integration that he had brought about. * For a detailed breakdown of the sequence of events in a Linear Apes timeline, see :[http://pota.goatley.com/magazines/comics-unlimited-apes-timeline.pdf A Chronology of the Planet of the Apes] created by Nigel Brown in 1975. It is possible, by employing the Linear Timeline theory, to create an entirely variant future for the planet beyond the conclusion of Battle.., with numerous possibilities. Illustrating this, a graph featured in the Planet of the Apes 'Blu-Ray' collection in 2008 showed two timelines side-by-side, with one detailing the original ape revolution and the other the premature revolt led by Caesar. The concept of Taylor crash-landing on an altered-future Earth was supposedly the basis for an abandoned Planet of the Apes sequel being developed by James Cameron around 1997. The same theory could also allow the ''Apes'' TV series to be included in the same continuity as the movies; the photograph of a futuristic New York in 2503 would place the series in the original timeline, where an ape revolution was not due to take place until over 500 years after the point when Zira and Cornelius appeared. One could even suppose that the Return to the Planet of the Apes animated series could be placed in the altered timeline as an alternative version of the events of 3979, or that the different date readings in Planet.. and Beneath.. might be explained by them being in different (albeit remarkably similar) timelines, though both these possibilities would imply that mankind was still destined to be dominated by the apes regardless of the changed course of history. However, the biggest flaw with the altered timeline theory is that is rests almost totally on Cornelius' sworn statement in , and that in itself has several problems. Firstly, according to the history that Cornelius relates, the downfall of man took place in the 25th century. However, this is inconsistent with what had been established the two previous films (Planet and Beneath), which stated that a 20th century nuclear war had destroyed human civilization, leading to the ascendance of apes. It is also inconsistent with Cornelius' own earlier statement in Escape, that apes had been speaking English for almost 2,000 years. Secondly, the source of Cornelius' testimony were secret sections of the Sacred Scrolls. However, in Planet it was shown that the Scrolls were highly inaccurate in regard to the apes' history, making them a highly questionable source. Thus, the events of both and can be consistent with what was established in and , with the only real inconsistency being Cornelius' statement, which came from a source that had previously been shown to be "not worth their parchment". Most Planet of the Apes fans - both casual and devoted - consider the movie series to be a continuous loop and that the contradictions were due to either mistaken or misleading statements of history. The scenes deleted from the original cut of Battle.. - showing the beginning of a mutant Alpha-Omega Bomb cult - support this hypothesis, and their restoration to the 2006 DVD reissue strengthens the argument for a Circular Timeline. This has been the structure followed by almost all timelines constructed to demonstrate the course of Apes events, most notably Rich Handley's Timeline of the Planet of the Apes: The Definitive Chronology, the first such timeline in Marvel Comics 1970s Planet of the Apes Magazine, and those appearing on websites such as Empire Online and IGN as well as the Fox 30th Anniversary Apes website which was included on the DVD-ROM of the Battle DVD. However, the Blu-Ray box-set gate-fold cover released by Fox Home Entertainment in 2008 utilized the Altered Timeline theory, showing the changed course of history begun by the events of Escape... Spin-off Apes media has tended to avoid or ignore the question of alternate timelines. As mentioned, the live action and animated TV series' made little effort to co-ordinate with movie continuity. Marvel Comics' original stories (aside from Quest for the Planet of the Apes) likewise made only passing reference to the movies, although Kingdom on an Island of the Apes used the legacy of the first movie as a spring-board, and Terror on the Planet of the Apes seemed to be stylistically influenced by Battle.., especially in early episodes. Malibu Graphics 1990s comics, in contrast, were rooted firmly in a post-''Battle..'' universe, with humans already mute just two generations on from Caesar's revolt. Their main comic series ended with renewed promises of ape/human harmony, but shortly afterwards the final spin-off mini-series Planet of the Apes: The Forbidden Zone - set centuries later in the same universe - showed things had quickly reverted in Ape City, completely at odds with the scenes in Battle.. of a Lawgiver teaching a mixed group of children in 2670 (although it could be suggested that these filmed scenes were set in the rival town of 'Primacy', where peace reigns). Lowell Cunningham, writer of that mini-series, set out his 'circular' take on the timelines in the introduction to one issue: "The first two Apes films featured characters travelling into the future, but it wasn't until the third film that the series ventured into real paradox territory. Having the characters travel into the past and participate in events which lead to their future creates a closed loop (or perhaps strange loop would be a better term). How could Zira and Cornelius, in their past set into motion the events which lead to their future? This leads us to a problem called reverse causality - the future causing changes in the past - which is the same situation created in both Terminator films... Is there an answer to the questions of time travel? Is it possible to close all the loopholes and explain everything away? I sure hope not, that would make things a lot less interesting." While Dark Horse Comics' series dealt exclusively with the continuity of the 2001 ''Planet of the Apes'' re-imagining, MR Comics' Revolution on the Planet of the Apes featured Breck and Kolp possessing the Alpha-Omega Bomb, again reinforcing a circular timeline. External Links *Hunter's Planet of the Apes Scripts Archive References Category:Database